Language code: yo

Technical information about ISO 639 language code yo

The table below provides technical details for the Yoruba language, designated by the yo code from the ISO 639-1 standard.

Code

yo

Name

Official

Yoruba

Native

Yorùbá

Family
Volta-Niger
Text direction

Left-to-Right

Language varieties
OyoEgbaEkitiIgbominaIjeshaIfeIjebuOndo
Related languages
ItsekiriIgalaOlukumiFon
Key facts
Written with an extended Latin alphabet that marks tones and certain consonants with diacriticsHas three level tones—high, mid, low—crucial for distinguishing meaningLiturgical chants in Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Caribbean religions preserve early Yoruba formsModern standard variety grew out of 19th-century Oyo mission-school publicationsContributed numerous words to West African Pidgins and creoles
Sample phrase

Báwo ni, ṣé o wà?

Character encodings

UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-32

Supported in Localizely

Yoruba belongs to the Niger-Congo language family, more specifically to the Volta-Niger subgroup. It is one of the major languages spoken in Nigeria and is also spoken by minority communities in Benin and Togo. It is primarily written using the Latin script. It is estimated that there are around 45 million speakers worldwide.

Language presence globally

Speakers

236K

124K

*The graph shows a rough estimate of Yoruba speakers in countries where it is an official or minority language.

Related locale codes

yo-BJ Yoruba (Benin)

yo-NG Yoruba (Nigeria)

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